The present invention relates to a sandwich preparation apparatus that incorporates a system that automates the process of adding various food materials, such as patties, condiments, and sauces to make a variety of hamburgers and other sandwiches.
Conventional hamburgers have a meat patty in a bun along with various condiments and sauces. A variety of other types of hamburgers and sandwiches have recently become popular and are in high demand at food outlets. These include, for example, such items as the teriyaki burger (adding teriyaki sauce to a conventional hamburger), bacon and lettuce burgers, cheeseburgers with different types of cheeses, barbecue sauce burgers, fish sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, and roast beef sandwiches. New types and kinds of products are being introduced regularly. The words "hamburger" and "sandwich" are interchangeably used in this specification unless otherwise specified.
A demand for increased productivity has arisen as a result of an increase in the number of consumers and increasingly diversified tastes. Conventional kitchen facilities include a freezer for meat, fish, or chicken, a refrigerator for condiments, a broiler or grill for cooking food, a toaster for buns, a deep fat frier, and a work table for adding sauces and condiments to the sandwiches.
Most of the preparation is manually performed. Each section is independent of the others. In a small commercial kitchen, one person cooks the food. Another person prepares the buns, and adds sauces and condiments. Still another person makes french fries, wraps the food, and does various other jobs. Conventional kitchen productivity has been examined, analyzed, and improved many times, and it is very difficult to make any more improvements.
The automated hamburger fixing apparatus has been developed to increase efficiency and reduce the required manual labor. For example, the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 1-91739 attempts to overcome the problems inherent in manual systems. This apparatus uses a feeding and adding mechanism for each different condiment or sauce. The application of the apparatus is very limited due to the space required for the feeding and adding mechanisms. Changes are unwieldy due to the need to add another feeding and adding mechanism every time a new sauce or condiment is added to the menu. In addition, the control system has to be modified every time a change is made. It is impossible to install such an apparatus in a small conventional kitchen.